A failure to find socially mediated taste aversion learning in Norway rats (R. norvegicus)

Observer rats interacted with conspecific demonstrators immediately after demonstrators ate a novel diet and were made ill by LiCl injection. Following their interaction with demonstrators, observers were tested for aversion to their ill demonstrator's diet. Previous research has shown that (a) an observer can extract information from a demonstrator sufficient to permit identification of the demonstrator's diet (Galef & Wigmore, 1983) and (b) a …